N EW
GREATEST
EMPIRES Chart the rise and fall of history’s most powerful states
Digital Edition
Discover the empire on which the sun never set
Rome
Persia
Aztecs
Ottoman
Abbasid
56 The Umayyad Caliphate 106 The Spanish Empire One of the greatest Muslim empires in history
60 The Abbasid Caliphate Behind the scenes of Islam’s golden age
An empire that would never back down
110 The Mughal Empire The nation that gave us the Taj Mahal
66 The Holy Roman Empire 112 The British Empire Uncover Europe’s most unique state
72 The North Sea Empire
122 The Russian Empire
80 The Mongol Empire
128 The French Empire
82 The Mali Empire
132 The AustroHungarian Empire
The remarkable story of Vikings in England
Find out about Genghis Khan’s vast nation
West Africa’s famous empire
84 The Ottoman Empire
How one nation lasted 700 years and spanned three continents
138 The German Empire
How the kaisers ruled the Reich until war struck
An A-Z of colonies, cricket and imperialism
92 The Serbian Empire
A country that went from pawn to power
Discover the grandeur that led to revolution
Explore Napoleon’s dreams of glory
Take a look at the demise of the Habsburgs
134 Empire of Japan
The rise and fall of Japan’s imperial legacy
138 The German Empire
How the kaisers fanned the flames of war
96 The Portuguese Empire 142 Empire Destroyers One country’s race to expand in the New World 100 T he Aztec Empire
Meet the men who took on some of history’s greatest nations
The rise and fall of the famous Aztecs
102 T he Inca Empire
Take a look inside South America’s famous civilisation
112 The British Empire
Uncover how Britannia came to rule the waves
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Contents 08 Empire vs Empire Which one comes out on top?
14 The Akkadian Empire
Uncover the story of the world’s first empire
18 The Assyrian Empire Explore the military nation that ruled the Middle East
22 The Achaemenid Empire Meet Persia’s greatest dynasty
28 The Macedonian Empire How Alexander the Great became an emperor
38 The Maurya Empire Discover India’s Iron Age triumph
40 I mperial China
Take a trip through China’s imperial history
46 The Roman Empire
It’s time to reveal the ancient world’s most famous empire
54 The Byzantine Empire How the Romans lived on in the East
122 The Russian Empire
Find out why the people were rushing to revolution
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had to abandon their own city. After passing through Cappadocia with scarcely any resistance thanks to incompetent local governors in 333 BCE, Darius III, the Persian Shahanshah – king of kings – could stomach this embarrassment no longer, and with an army that outnumbered the Greeks by two to one, confronted Alexander at the Battle of Issus. Were the king to fail here then Darius’ army would be able to link up with his powerful navy and Alexander’s whole campaign, resting as it did on his thin line of victories down the coast, would be wiped out and all dreams of Greek civilisation free from the menaces of its aggressive eastern neighbour would spill out into the dust like so much wasted Macedonian blood. At Issus, like many battles before and after, Alexander rode up and down his ranks of assembled men to deliver an address worthy of heroes, playing on old glories and grudges. “He excited the Illyrians and Thracians by describing the enemy’s wealth and treasures, and the Greeks by putting them in mind of their wars of old, and their deadly hatred towards the Persians,” wrote the historian Justin in the 3rd century CE. “He reminded the Macedonians at one time of their conquests in Europe, and at another of their desire to subdue Asia, boasting that no troops in the world had been found a match for them, and assuring them that this battle would put an end to their labours and crown their glory.” With shock etched upon his face, Darius fled the battlefield as the Greek charge cut through his ranks like a scythe, with Alexander at its head, crashing straight through the Persian flanks and then into their rearguard. With their king gone they began a chaotic and humiliating retreat. With only one Persian port left – Tyre, in what is now Lebanon – and the hill fort of Gaza in modern Palestine both falling in 332 BCE, the thinly stretched Achaemenid defences west of Babylon quickly crumbled or withdrew before the relentless march of Alexander. Unexpectedly, he then turned his attention not east towards the enemy’s exposed heart, but west in the direction of Egypt and Libya. They, like the Greek colonies of Asia Minor, would welcome him as a saviour. With no standing army and whole swathes of the country in the hands of Egyptian rebels, the Persian governor handed over control of the province outright. The last set of invaders had disrespected their gods, so perhaps the Egyptians were keen to take advantage of Alexander’s vanity and safeguard their faith by placing this new warlord right at the heart of it. Maybe, too, Alexander had seen how illusionary Persian authority was in Egypt, and wanted to try a different tack. He may have been one of the world’s greatest generals, but he knew the sword was not the only path to acquiring new territory. Riding out to the famous Oracle of Amun – the Egyptian answer to Zeus – at the Siwa oasis, Alexander was welcomed into the inner sanctum of this ancient temple, an honour usually afforded only to the ordained priests of Amun, while his
“Alexander rode up and down his ranks of assembled men to deliver an address worthy of heroes” entourage was forced to wait in the courtyard. The exact details of Alexander’s exchange with the Oracle remain a mystery, but the end result was unambiguous. Alexander was now more than merely a hero of legend. Even the myth of Achilles reborn could scarcely contain his ambition, and he declared himself the son of Zeus. His worship spread across Egypt, where he was raised to the rank of pharaoh. This didn’t sit well with Alexander’s countrymen, but here at least, the king didn’t push it. “[Alexander] bore himself haughtily towards the barbarians,” recalled the army’s official historian Plutarch, “and like one fully persuaded of his divine birth and parentage, but with the Greeks it was within limits and somewhat rarely that he assumed his own divinity.” Despite his ‘haughtiness’, Alexander had been raised on tales of the Egyptian gods from his mother, and Greeks – the philosopher
Plato among them – had long journeyed to this ancient land to study in what they regarded as the birthplace of civilisation. Standing amid the great pyramids and temples, the 25-year-old Alexander either saw around him an ancient power to be held in great respect or feats of long-dead god-kings that he had to better. The result was the city of Alexandria, planned in detail by the king, from wide boulevards and great temples to defences and plumbing. Construction began in 331 BCE, and it remains the secondlargest city and largest seaport in Egypt, linking the king’s new world to his old one, both by trade across the Mediterranean and by culture. In making Alexandria the crossroads between two great civilisations, a great centre of learning where Greek and Egyptian religion, medicine, art, mathematics and philosophy could be bound together was created, and the city came to symbolise the
A LAND SOAKED IN BLOOD How Alexander’s mighty empire grew year by year, and some of the cities founded in his wake
Consolidation 335-335 BCE
For the first two years of his reign, Alexander crushed revolts in the Greek states, and with his throne secure crossed into Asia Minor.
This is Sparta 336 BCE
The only part of Greece outside Macedonian influence, Philip I had sent the warlike Spartans a message warning of the consequences if he had to take Sparta by force. They replied simply “if”. Subsequently, Philip and Alexander left them alone.
Alexandria (Egypt)
Egypt, Libya, Iraq, Kuwait, Iran 331 BCE
Key 335-335 BCE
334-333 BCE
332 BCE
331 BCE
334-333 BCE
330-328 BCE
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After marching unopposed into Egypt and parts of Libya, Alexander then crosses the Euphrates and Tigris to defeat the Persians and win Babylon and Mesopotamia (now Iraq and Kuwait) and a chunk of Persia (now Iran).
The Macedonian Empire better aspects of Alexander’s nature, his desire for education and learning and his patronage. Darker days, though, lay ahead. Like an angel of death, Alexander turned from his ‘liberation’ of the Achaemenid Empire’s downtrodden subjects and drove east with a vengeance. Now in the belly of the beast, Alexander’s less heroic qualities were beginning to show themselves with greater regularity – an arrogance, cruelty and obsessive drive that had he failed in his conquest, would have been remembered as the madness of a tyrant rather than the drive of a king. Breaking out of a pincer movement to defeat Darius again at the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BCE, Alexander seized Babylonia. Provincial rulers loyal to the humiliated king of kings promptly surrendered. With his authority crumbling, Darius was stabbed by one of his generals, Bessus, and left by the roadside, where pursuing Greek scouts found him in 330 BCE. Overcome with pity – and perhaps respect for this foe they had chased across mountains and deserts – they offered the dying king of kings water from a nearby spring. In declaring himself Shahanshah, Bessus’ throne was
A picture depicting Alexander founding Alexandria, which would become the ancient world’s most prosperous city
Turkey
334-333 BCE
Alexander’s forces storm down the Turkish coast taking cities inhabited by Greek colonists, appointing new governors and collecting taxes.
Alexandria Margiana (Turkmenistan)
Alexandria Asiana
Iskandariya (Iraq)
Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel
Antiochia Susiana (Kuwait)
Alexandria Carmania
Alexandria Eschate (Tajikistan)
Alexandria on the Oxus (Afghanistan)
Alexandria Ariana (Afghanistan)
332 BCE
Now in Syria, Alexander sells the population of Tyre into slavery for resisting his siege, adding modern Lebanon, Palestine and Israel to his empire.
Alexandria Arachosia (Afghanistan)
Alexandria Prophthasia (Afghanistan)
Alexandria Bucephalous (Pakistan)
Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan 330-328 BCE
Taking and burning the Persian capital Persepolis, Alexander claims the rest of the country and puts down rebellious tribes in Persia’s wild frontiers – now Afghanistan and parts of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan.
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Alexandria on the Caucasus (Pakistan)
Alexandria on the Indus (Pakistan)
Alexandria Niceae (Pakistan)
Pakistan, Kashmir, India 327-326 BCE
Crossing the Hindu Kush mountains, Alexander discovers northern India and begins a hard-fought campaign against various tribes and kingdoms – claiming what is now Pakistan, Kashmir and some of northern India before his army refuses to go on.
The Byzantine Empire Uncover the extraordinary rise and fall of one of the world’s greatest empires as it buckled under the weight of internal conflict and foreign invasions
New Rome
Byzantium is born
Emperor Constantine the Great moved the capital of the Roman Empire to Byzantium to better manage its eastern frontiers. Endowed by his name, the new capital was rechristened Constantinople.
Greek colonists founded a city on the European side of the Bosporus Strait. Strategically placed between Europe and Asia Minor, Byzantium prospered, though the Greeks and Persians warred over it many times.
657 BCE
Restoration of icons After another period of iconoclasm took hold in 814, Empress Theodora, regent for her son Michael III, finally ended the practice. Her efforts led to her canonisation as a saint.
843
330 CE
Holy Roman Empire Rise of iconoclasm Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as Holy Roman emperor in an attempt to restore the Western Roman Empire. It frustrated the East, who felt that their power was being threatened.
726-87
800
The Great Schism After years of disputes, the Church formally separated into the Roman Catholic Church in the West, led by Pope Leo IX, and the Greek Orthodox Church, which was based in Constantinople.
1054
Emperor Leo III made the veneration of religious icons illegal across the empire, something that continued after his death. This vexed the Western Church, which supported their use.
The period between iconoclasm and the sack of Constantinople was a high point for Byzantine art
Sack of Constantinople
After the Fourth Crusade helped put exiled Emperor Alexios IV on the throne, the Byzantines refused to pay. Angered, the Crusaders conquered the capital and established a new Latin Empire.
Plundering away
20,000 men fought in the Crusader army Number of ships used in the sacking
57 1204
1204 54
Number of years the Latin Empire survived
The Byzantine Empire Modern historians use the name ‘Byzantine Empire’, but the citizens identified themselves as Romans
Upon the death of Emperor Theodosius I, his two sons, Arcadius and Honorius, inherited the Eastern and the Western halves of the Roman Empire respectively. The empire would never be reunited.
Amount of gold the Byzantines paid the Huns annually to keep them at bay
318
kg
159
kG
952
kg
424-43 CE
It’s all Greek to me! Emperor Heraclius introduced Greek as the official language of the empire’s administration. By the next generation, knowledge of Latin was rare, even among the educated.
476 CE
The Justinian Plague
25-50 million people died across the empire
10,000
people died every day in Constantinople
outbreaks of bubonic plague happened, wwith this being the first, followed by the Black Death and the Third Pandemic
620
Emperor Michael VIII successfully recaptured Constantinople and caused the Latin Emperor, Baldwin II, to flee the city. Michael restored the capital, which had fallen into disrepair, back to its former grandeur.
Internal strife
A series of civil wars among dynastic rivals during the reign of Emperor John V severely weakened the empire and left it vulnerable to attacks from enemies abroad.
1321-79
While Justinian wanted to flee the capital, his wife refused to leave and convinced him to stay
The Nika Riots
Justinian I’s harsh treatment of hooligans at a chariot race, as well as anger at a recent tax hike, sparked five days of rioting that killed a tenth of Constantinople.
532
541-42
Restored to power
The overthrow of Romulus Augustus by the barbarian Odoacer marked the end of Western Roman Empire. However, Odoacer bent the knee to Constantinople and Eastern Rome endured for another 1,000 years.
The tribute had doubled by 433 as Attila rose to power
The amount trebled in 443 after the empire was heavily defeated by the Huns
395 CE
1261
The West falls
Paying the Huns
A permanent split
Population of Constantinople
400,000
70,000 The population of the 15th century was just
End of an empire
people live in the city during the 6th century before the plague
The army of Sultan Mehmed II killed Emperor Constantine XI as the Ottoman Turks successfully captured the capital. The event marked the end of the Byzantine Empire.
people lived in the capital after its recapture during the 13th century
of the size it was in the 6th
1453
1400 55
Edgar by adopting his laws. He even visited the tomb of Edmund Ironside at Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset where he left behind a splendid gift Discover the lineage of the Vikings who ruled England of cloak adorned with peacock feathers – a symbol of both Imperial Byzantine grandeur and also Christian resurrection. His magnanimity marked him out as a wise man, able to build bridges with the people he had conquered. Although he taxed his people heavily, 1013-1014 they, for their part, seem to have accepted his right Sweyn to rule them; he did at least give them peace and Forkbeard security, a welcome contrast to the four decades 960-1014 that preceded his reign. He was generally regarded by them with respect rather than love. But it was a welcome breathing space after the trauma of the reign of Æthelred ‘the Unready’. Estrid Cnut was buried in the great Anglo-Saxon Ulf Jarl Svendsdatter royal mausoleum in Winchester, where he c.993-1027 c.990-c.1057 metaphorically rubbed shoulders with other English kings and saints. In its own way it was 1016-1035 another sign of a king who wished to assimilate rather than dictate to his English subjects. Cnut the Ælfgifu of Ironically, Cnut’s bones were not to find peace in Northumberland Great 990-c.1040 c.995-1035 death. In the 16th century, his remains, and those of his wife Emma, were packed together into a mortuary chest and placed high in the presbytery of Winchester Cathedral. When Winchester Cathedral was entered by Parliamentarian forces in the great Civil War of the 17th century, anti-monarchist soldiers broke Sweyn open the chests and used the leg-bones to break Knutsson c.1016-1035 the splendid stained glass of the West Window. Following the restoration of the English monarchy 1035-1040 1040-1042 in 1660, the bones were gathered together and placed in the mortuary chests once more, but Harold Harthacnut c.1018-1042 by this time they were hopelessly jumbled up; Harefoot 1016-1040 no one knew who went where. At the time of writing, a temporary laboratory has been set up in Winchester Cathedral to try and match the right bones with the right mortuary chests so that Cnut and Emma can once more rest side by side. Harold became sole king of England after Cnut’s traces of that bloodline still remain in the British The greatness of Cnut’s achievements in death but died himself soon after. Harthacnut then royal family. building an extended kingdom that encompassed became ruler. He too did not survive very long, Cnut was the first of only two kings to rule both both England and Scandinavia can perhaps dying after over-indulging at a wedding England and Denmark. He capably governed both, best be demonstrated by how quickly feast. With none of Cnut’s sons now dextrously managing England’s great wealth to his empire began to fall apart after his living, in 1042 the throne reverted full advantage and emulating some of the most death. Without his great energy, back to the Anglo-Saxon significant elements of her government to build a vision and drive, his successors bloodline when Edward ‘the strong nation-state in Denmark. He used English were incapable of keeping it Confessor’ became monarch. churchmen to help build the young Church in intact. Harold Harefoot, his son He traced his ancestry Denmark as well as using more practical tools such from his union with Ælfgifu of back to the line of Cerdic as the employment of English moneyers to develop Northampton, and Harthacnut, of Wessex, a 6th-century Danish coinage. from his marriage with Emma, ruler and king of Wessex who It would be true to say that the practical results both became king of England in due claimed descent from both Adam of of King Cnut’s reign were more deeply felt in the course. But neither lasted for very long, biblical fame and the Germanic/Norse long-run in Denmark rather than England, but nor gave any indication that, had they god Woden/Odin. In a somewhat his reign was nonetheless a fascinating period in King Harthacnut, son of Cnut lived, they would have been very English and European history, and a remarkable and Emma of Normandy, king of diluted form, after several England from 1040 to 1042 successful monarchs. diversions across the centuries, achievement in its own right.
England’s Viking overlords
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The North Sea Empire A stained glass image of Cnut from Canterbury Cathedral
“Cnut was the first of only two kings to rule both England and Denmark”
978-1013 1014-1016
Emma of Normandy
Æthelred the Unready
c.985-1052
c.966-1016
Gunhilda of Denmark c.1020-1038
Alfred
c.1005-1036
1042-1066
1016
Edward the Confessor
Edmund Ironside
Unknown-1016
The obverse (front) of a silver penny of King Cnut, dated c.1017-23
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© Print Collector /Getty Images
1003-1066
Myth and memory The rise and fall of Medieval Serbia is preserved through epic poetry
St Sava crowns his brother. The coronation was actually performed by the Pope’s emissary, but this sat awkwardly with Stefan the First-Crowned’s role in founding the Serbian Orthodox Church so creative license was used
“On 15 June 1341, the emperor died, and almost immediately an ad-hoc invasion force advanced towards Thessaloniki”
they got one. Calculating and aggressive where his father had been pious and cautious, Dušan restored relations with Bulgaria, preventing a dangerous Byzantine-Bulgarian alliance that might trap them in a vice, and maintained constant pressure on Hungary, ensuring its knights were forced to pay dearly for any sallies across the Danube. Where he relaxed his grip was in the west, his neighbours in the Banate of Bosnia, who had seized his lands in what is now Herzegovina, and the Republic of Ragusa (now Dubrovnik), which had increased its sphere further inland and along the coast. Pragmatically, Dušan knew that restoring these provinces would change little on the ground. Local lords simply accepted the sovereignty of whoever raised the flag at any given time and life continued as normal. Ragusa was Serbia’s gateway for trade from the Adriatic, and a war would be easily won but the economic cost would be great. Better instead to march south, and Byzantine instability provided the perfect opportunity. The local governor Syrgiannes had conspired against Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos and fled to the Serbian court, using his inside knowledge to lead Dušan’s forces to victory in claiming all Macedonia and pushing on to lay siege to Thessaloniki. There Syrgiannes was lured away from the Serbian camp by a Byzantine defector and murdered – a traitor poetically slain by a man posing as one.
The emperor offered terms. He would recognise the Macedonian conquests but not those in Greece, and Dušan accepted – without the rebel’s insights and allies, battles would be hard-fought. In a state of near-constant warfare in the east, Andronikos III sought to appease Serbia’s belligerent monarch and over a seven-day summit crafted a peace that would hold until the emperor’s death in 1341. Dušan looked to Albania instead. Though formally a Byzantine province, this had crumbled into a fiction under pressure from Serbia, and along the coast, the Republic of Venice and the Kingdom of Sicily. Its tribal chieftains were easily suppressed, but records are unclear on just how much of this feral land Dušan’s armies managed to tame. On 15 June 1341, the emperor died and almost immediately an ad-hoc invasion force advanced towards Thessaloniki. But Dušan wasn’t the only jackal circling the carcass – Turkish pirates plundered the Greek coast and Albanian tribes rose up against the Byzantine yoke. Andronikos III’s heir, John V, was only nine, and so the old emperor’s closest ally John Kantakouzenos was appointed regent to rule in his name. While away from Constantinople, a coup was launched and the child’s mother, Anna of Savoy, was appointed regent instead. Outraged, Kantakouzenos declared himself emperor and Byzantium erupted into civil war.
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A 16th-century Russian miniature showing the Battle of Kosovo The story of Serbia’s Medieval glory, its heroes, its battles and its fall, were preserved for ordinary people by epic poems, written to be sung accompanied by a stringed instrument called a gusle. Though the tales became embellished, these legends – along with the unique character and continuity of the Serbian Orthodox Church – kept Serbian identity going during the long, dark centuries of Ottoman occupation. The best-known body of work is the ‘Kosovo Cycle’, which details events in the decades following Dušan’s death when the divided Serbian nobles won a pyrrhic victory over the Ottomans at the 1389 Battle of Kosovo, ending with the death of both Sultan Murad I and Lazar Hrebeljanović, the ‘Heavenly Prince’ who led an outnumbered coalition of Serbs, Bosnians and Knights Hospitaller. Both armies were all but obliterated, and when the Turks returned the following year the Serbian statelets were unable to muster significant resistance. Though the events of the battle aren’t recorded in any detail, Lazar’s sacrifice – recognised by the Serbian Orthodox Church as a martyrdom – remains a potent clarion call in Serbian nationalism.
Desperate to restore control, Kantakouzenos was forced to make a deal with the devil. In July 1342, Dušan agreed to fight with him in exchange for Dušan taking all Byzantine territory west of Thessaloniki and keeping any cities the Serbs happened to capture during the campaign. But as John VI’s position improved, Dušan felt his leverage over the pretender slipping. The grandstanding Greek had stolen a town out from under the nose of its Serbian besiegers by marching in and accepting
The Serbian Empire
This map shows the extent of the Serbian Empire by Dušan’s death in 1355, dwarfing the once-mighty Byzantine Empire
A depiction of Dušan’s coronation as emperor of the Serbs and Greeks by Czech artist Alfons Mucha as part of his series depicting great moments in Slavic history
John VI Kantakouzenos was the Byzantine emperor from 1347 to 1354, losing Albania, Macedonia, Thessaly and Epirus to the Serbs
– a 40-kilogram (88-pound) banner belonging to his retinue strongly suggests that the standard bearer would have had to be taller than even Dušan to carry it comfortably. Eventually, Kantakouzenos emerged victorious over the rogue regency and in May 1347 was formally crowned in Constantinople, with John V as co-emperor. Byzantine strength was short-lived. Plague struck in 1347 and 1348, and Dušan followed its pestilent wake south to take Thessaly and Epirus, repopulating them with Albanian migrants. Kantaouzenos attempted to recover Byzantium’s Balkan frontier in 1350, but made little progress, and in 1352 civil war returned when John V came of age and concluded that he shouldn’t have to share what was his by right. Empires need managing, not just conquering. In 1349 Dušan anchored the secular and spiritual life of his Serbian domain with a comprehensive law code that covered almost every aspect of life. Under the watchful eye of loyal Serbian governors and garrisons, he retained the familiar Byzantine administration in his Greek lands and the Greek
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elite remained in their posts, just as he left the Albanian chieftains to rule as they saw fit so long as they paid all due deference. Dušan’s mightiest endeavours, however, were cut short with his death. He had built strong links with the pope – having alienated the Orthodox world by anointing himself emperor he sought spiritual patrons in Rome and hoped to be declared leader of a great crusade against the encroaching Ottoman Turks. He never surrendered his dream of storming the walls of Constantinople and ruling the Greeks not just in name, but in right. Perhaps Dušan’s empire might have held out longer against the Ottomans and perhaps he might have found more eager allies in that cause than the haughty Byzantines, but it wasn’t to be. He died suddenly in 1355 and two decades after his death, Serbia was smaller than it had been when he became king, having been pulled apart by his weak successor and feuding nobles. By 1390, Serbia was merely another satellite of the Ottoman Empire and would remain so for the next 488 years.
© Getty Images
the surrender, effectively placing it under his own control without doing any of the fighting. Dušan struck a deal with Anna of Savoy instead and switched sides. Kantakouzenos made his second Faustian pact. Unbelievably, he enlisted the support of the Ottoman Turks and moved the war to Thrace, effectively abandoning the west to Dušan. By 1345, the Serbs held all of Greek Macedonia – apart from Thessaloniki itself – and all of Albania, apart from the port city of Durrës. Mount Athos, the most important monastic site in Greek Orthodoxy, now lay under the rule of a foreign king, but Dušan courted favour. He asked to be recognised in their prayers alongside the Byzantine emperor and gifted the individual monasteries with lands and exempted them from taxes. Despite fierce protests from Constantinople, the holy fathers of Athos repaid Dušan’s largess and appointed Serbia’s archbishop to the role of patriarch. On Easter Day 1436, surrounded by churchmen from Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria, Dušan was crowned emperor. He certainly looked the part. Described as handsome, charismatic and unnaturally tall, it might have had the touch of folklore were it not for an analysis of his vertebrae in 1991 that concluded the Serbian emperor was well over 2.13 metres (seven feet) tall. He had 101 knights for his bodyguard who had to match their master’s stature
Vimy Ridge
A defining moment for Canadian troops fighting on the side of the empire in World War I Vimy Ridge was the Word War I battle in which the bravery and effectiveness of Canadian soldiers came to the fore. The troops were ordered to seize the heavily defended ridge, which had a commanding view over the British lines and was strategically important for the Central Powers. A French attack had already failed, so the assault was carefully prepared. The plan of attack was an artillery barrage that would keep the Germans pinned
down while the Canadians charged through subterranean tunnels towards enemy lines. The battle began at 5.30am on 9 April with the thunder of 1,000 artillery pieces as 15,000 Canadian infantrymen stormed the German trenches while under heavy machine-gun fire. By the end of the day, 10,000 were killed or wounded, but Hill 145, the highest point of the ridge, was successfully captured by a bayonet charge on the final machine-gun nests. A monument now stands at this spot to commemorate the immense acts of courage and sacrifice.
The loss of life was high but the victory at Vimy Ridge was the single most successful advance by the Triple Entente up to that date
Westminster system
How legislation and governance made its way from Britain to the outer reaches of the empire The loss of the USA resulted in a political rejig in the empire. The Durham Report, written in 1839, has been described as “the book that saved the empire” and put forward the idea of colonies governing themselves. Britain ruled one-fifth of the world’s population at its peak, and as time progressed it couldn’t keep all the political institutions of its sprawling empire in check. A two-party system evolved in many of the British dominions with Canada allowed a responsible government in 1848 and Australia in 1855. The system benefited Britain as it reduced the pressure on its parliament to make
Prince Albert is credited with bringing over the first Christmas trees, but they were actually brought over in the Georgian period
The Westminster system helped maintain a Commonwealth even after decolonisation
Xmas Tree
The invasion of evergreens into British households They may be a staple of Christmas tradition now, but prior to the Victorian age, Christmas trees, as we know them today, were a rarity. The first trees were brought over to Britain in 1800 by George III’s German wife Queen Charlotte, but they only achieved any sort of popularity in the 1840s thanks to Queen Victoria’s German husband, Prince Albert.
Their popularity only rose further when the royal family were pictured with their own tree, and companies first got in on the Christmas act in 1880 when Woolworths began selling Christmas tree ornaments. Originally, the German Springelbaum was the tree of choice, but they began to be replaced by the Norwegian spruce as demand grew in the 1880s. By the end of the 19th century, Christmas in the British Empire had transformed from a barely recognised date to a national holiday.
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decisions for all the lands it governed but still gave it supreme rule over the colonies. It benefited the colonies as it gave them the ability to rule with a sense of independence and freedom. Most colonies took on what is known as the ‘Westminster system’. For many of these countries today, the political system is a final remnant of British rule and, with some adaptation, has served their politics well. For example, India, despite huge rebellions and a successful drive for independence, still utilises the system. It has, however, become unpopular in some former colonies. Riots in the Solomon Islands in 2006 were motivated by the April 2006 election and many have criticised the Westminster system as it can fail to reflect who the electorate vote for with its first-past-the-post system.
9000
The British Empire
Yorktown
The Anglo-Zulu War was primarily caused by British aggression and is well known for the heroic defence at Rorke’s Drift
The important siege that brought an end to major hostilities in the American War of Independence Perhaps one of the most pivotal battles in the history of empire, Yorktown signified the end of the British grip on America. The British commander, Lord Cornwallis, had moved his troops to Yorktown, Virginia, in hope of maintaining communication with the main British Army in New York. George Washington ordered French general Lafayette and an
American and French coalition army to prevent Cornwallis’ escape from Yorktown. A sea blockade was put in place and shortly after land troops advanced on the British. After the British lost naval superiority at the Battle of the Chesapeake, Cornwallis and his men were isolated. After 20 days, the situation was hopeless and Yorktown was surrendered with 8,000 British prisoners taken. The defeat itself wasn’t a huge loss, but it started to persuade the British government to consider peace.
The British wanted to surrender to the French but were forced to admit defeat to the Americans
Zulu
Prior to the Boer War, the British found another great threat to their desire to rule southern Africa The first major conflict was at In the early years of Isandlwana, where 806 British the 19th century, the soldiers died in what became an Zulus were the major emphatic victory for the Zulus. holders of power in The same day, a small British southern Africa. encampment called Rorke’s Drift was However, with settlers assaulted by huge numbers of Zulus, arriving from but the garrison of just 145 men overseas, it wasn’t long until violence remarkably held out. broke out between them and As the war progressed, the new Boer and British the tide turned against colonists who had The the Zulus, who discovered gold and disastrous were no match diamonds in Zulu and embarrassing for British tactics lands. Back in loss at Isandlwana and firepower. A London, the was covered up; many telling example British of this came at government of the Victorian Kambula in March wasn’t keen on public never heard 1879, when 2,000 war, but High the true story Zulus perished while Commissioner for the British only lost South Africa Bartle a total of 18 men. This Frere had other ideas; he defeat broke the Zulu nation issued an ultimatum to the and effectively handed their lands Zulus. The harsh conditions imposed over to the British. were not adhered to and predictably British imperialism had conquered led to war. South Africa and the area would The Anglo-Zulu War began in become an important part of empire January 1879. The Zulus had a until war broke out again 1880, this numerical advantage with King time against the Boers. Cetawayo boasting forces of 40,000.
Cornwallis’ surrender depicted by John Trumbull, an artist hired by the US government specifically to produce patriotic paintings
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